In June of 2014, I decided that I wanted to be Rank 80 in PvP. I thought it would be easy and quick, man, was I wrong. I finally hit my goal last week, and I thought I’d make a post summarizing what I’ve learned in these nine months.

I did this mainly through soloq’s, because I don’t have any RL friends playing the game. Anyway, here’s what I learned and hopefully it will help any asprining rabbits, deers, or doylaks.

1) You will lose games.

When I first started playing, I honestly thought I could win everything. I got livid when we would lose – seeing 500 glory points instead of 1,500 was rattling. I would count my nights in terms of wins and losses. If I came out below .500, I would consider it a wasted night.

Once I started treating games like individual experiences. It made it a lot better. Going into each game as a separate occurrence than my last. I promise you that your five game losing streak has no affect on your sixth game. Treat every game like you can win.

2) Griefers will be griefers.

When I first started playing I’d be so upset when people would say, “lol”, “L2P Mes”, “you’re awful”, etc after I died. I would go back and try and kill them, lose, and get another “lol nice.” It was ruining my experience for me. I’d type back and try and get in fights, but it wouldn’t do anything.

My best piece of advice is to just ignore them. Don’t talk back, and don’t go headhunting for them. Listen to music, kick-it, and enjoy the game. You’ll be surprised on how much it changes your demeanor.

3) Don’t give up.

Until about r50, every time we’d be down 70-200, I’d give up. I’d sit at base and wait it out. I’d mark it down as a loss and just want to move on to the next game.

Like I’ve said before, take every game as it is. Learn something from it. If you’ve gone far for the past three time and died each time to that same condi-engi, then try going mid. a D/P thief keep ganking you when you’re moving from node to node? Make sure to run with allies and call target on him. Adapt to each game, don’t just AFK.

4) Practice makes the player, not rank.

I’d see r80 when I was a lower rank and think to myself, “wow, they’re going to destroy me.” Every time I’d enter a fight and see a “legendary champion” or “reaper” title I’d consider it a loss or get nervous.

I’m here to tell you that I’ve been killed by r30 and lower more times than I can count. It’s about practice, you don’t become a esports level once you hit 80. If you practiced in a dueling arena for a week with someone that can help you hone your abilities, you’d be winning nodes and playing well in no time. Take that extra time out to find someone to help you. If there is a player in a match that is kicking your ass, then ask him to come help you after the game. 90% of the players would gladly help. I asked Aeoldyn (Chaos_Archangel) from OMFG to help me, he won like 9 out of 12 duels, but it helped me grow as a player.

5) Go out and look for help.

I started out by reading metabattle builds and then going to play matches. I was getting wrecked each time. I’d blame it on the build, that it wasn’t my style, excuse, excuse, excuse.

Once I started asking players for help, looking for guides, watching twitch streams, and reading up on my class, I grew tremendously. I can’t stress enough to just ask other players for help, PvP may seem like a toxic environment (and is), but a lot of the players love helping.

Ending Thoughts:

The last thing I’ll add is don’t be a dick. PvP is a lot more fun when you say “GD, yah got me.” (In a non-facetious way). Then getting mad. You can’t control if you get blown out 500-0, but you can control your mood.

I’ve finally hit my goal after nine months and it’s been a great time. A huge thank you to everyone that’s helped me become a ~dragon~ and grow as a player.

Good luck to anyone going on this journey. If you ever need anyone to partner with, don’t be afraid to ask. I’ll see you in the Mists! http://imgur.com/oIB4D1N